Iím here to provide an updated look at the upcoming Summer of SWTOR in light of our recent Galactic Strongholds announcements. The biggest changes to our Summer plans outside of Galactic Strongholds are Game Update 2.8. Hereís a look at the next four months including that update (and not including the May 4th, May 11th, and July 15th rewards deadlines already mentioned in Galactic Strongholds letter):

Game Update 2.8: on June 10thNar Shaddaa Casino. For the first time, players are invited to the casinos on Nar Shaddaa to try their luck on the slot machines. Credits can be used to purchase tokens, which in turn can be used on slot machines. Lucky winners will receive certificates that can be traded in for unique rewards that will only be distributed during the Nar Shaddaa Nightlife event. This event will run from June 10th to August 19th.Double Fleet Requisition, Warzone Comms, and Credits from PvP matches. For three weeks at a time, events will run that yield increased rewards for participating players. Galactic Starfigher will grant players double the Fleet Requisition and double the credit rewards they would normally get. Warzones will similarly give players double the standard Warzone Comms and double the credit rewards. The increased rewards only apply to the rewards on the scorecard at the end of matches, not the rewards you get from daily/weekly missions. The Starfighter event will run from 2.8 Ė 2.8.1. The Warzone event will be active from 2.8.1 Ė 2.8.2.Groupfinder Operations Overhaul. Story Mode Operations will be more accessible to endgame players (levels 50 Ė 55). The Operations section in the GroupFinder window will list available Operations on a pre-determined schedule, rotating in different Operations every few days. Players who meet the level requirement of the Operation will be Bolstered, removing the requirement for endgame gear. Rewards have also been improved, making this a great opportunity for players to earn Ultimate Commendations and experience new content. These operations will also be for 16-man mode to ensure faster queue times (both 8 and 16 man need 2 tanks and that is typically the gating factor). 16-man is also more forgiving to mistakes and should increase the chances of a successful group.Nightmare Mode Dread Palace. Face the ultimate challenge, the Dread Masters in their palace with new Nightmare Mode mechanics and difficulty.Nightmare Dread Fortress update. The NM Fortress difficulty buff will be removed. All of the new NM Fortress mechanics are still in place but it should now be more accessible to larger groups. Fair warning: the unique title for defeating Nightmare Fortress with the buff present will never again be available to those who donít unlock it prior to this game update.Two New Starfighter Variants will be available to pilots on both sides of the conflict. The Skirmisher Gunship fills a sniper role and brings dogfighting capabilities to the table, while the Assault Bomber is a heavy fighter that focuses on either mines or drones.The usual host of additional features, including some graphics improvements and class balance changes.

Events! We will be running every one* of our major recurring events over the period between 2.8 and 2.9. Events include:Double XP WeekendGree EventBounty Contract Week*Except the Rakghoul Resurgence. Obviously, the Rakghoul plague was completely eliminated the last time, and the galaxy is absolutely safe from another outbreak. Right?

Game Update 2.9 is still on for August 19th with our expanded feature set for Galactic Strongholds Subscriber Early Access. The team is making great progress on Strongholds and we are very excited to share this with you. Itís worth noting that Game Update 2.9 will include the next exciting chapter in the Forged Alliances story arc, and we have a lot of folks working on something very big for later this year that I have yet to give details on.

I never finished my class story line because the planets and other stuff were too boring. I did like the class story line though, how hard is it to jump back in? Would I need to do a week's worth or research on what's changed and how things work now or could I just muddle my way through? Are there still way too many abilities? It's f2p and I would be completely fine either directly buying an overpowered set of gear or buying credits or whatever and buying stuff off the auction house.

The number of abilities has not changed, and bear in mind if you go completely f2p there's an XP penalty (which means you pretty much have to do the planet quests you find boring). If you want to essentially buy credits, buying a gambling box or two and tossing 'em on the GTN should net you some quick credits (alternately you could open them and try to sell the stuff inside, but I, personally, have wretched luck with them AND there's a waiting period to actually sell the shit you get). That should net you enough to make sure you and a companion are adequately geared, and then you can go on your merry way.

As for having to figure out your class again, that I can't tell you, as I've never had a significant gap of "not playing." Some classes are easier for me to pick back up than others, though (I suck nut at the DWing force users if I haven't played one in a while, for example).

I never finished my class story line because the planets and other stuff were too boring. I did like the class story line though, how hard is it to jump back in? Would I need to do a week's worth or research on what's changed and how things work now or could I just muddle my way through? Are there still way too many abilities? It's f2p and I would be completely fine either directly buying an overpowered set of gear or buying credits or whatever and buying stuff off the auction house.

I should check if that authenticator still works.

Yes, there are way too many abilities, but it seems easier to figure out which ones are bullshit now. Also, being able to completely redo my UI to specification alleviates some of the ability situational bloat.

You can basically buy a 2 month game card for $30, and you get 1,100 cartel coins to go with it. That's not a ton, but it's enough to unlock some basic stuff like inventory or crew skills.

The story parts are good, the questing is fine, but doing it solo would be boring. Half the fun is getting another buddy to play with you since the duo aspect of the game is outstanding.

Was going to have a crack at that tonight but I'm prepared to be underwhelmed.

I'm also trying to figure out this Starfighter business after finally logging in to give it a go. At the moment it seems very much like you turn up and prepare to be fucked over constantly until you've earned enough points to upgrade considerably. It doesn't make it very appealing.

A point can be MOOT. MUTE is more along the lines of what you should be. - WayAbvPar

The gambling stuff is mostly just a massive cash sink with a tiny chance of getting you the rancor mount. Which, is kind of ridiculous and cool, but I'm not really thinking I want to spend millions of credits chasing it when I'm about to need them for housing in another couple months.

I'm having fun with this game although the dps rotation of merc is getting stale at lvl 30+ There's a so much content they put in I haven't got to experience.But a few of them are poorly thought out TBH.

Bounty Hunter mission is pathetic.1. Choose Planet.2. Find 4 informants, you must successfully extract information from them by using Interrogation Droid / Buying them a Drink.3. With the information - proceed to quest point to kill the lone target.4. Congratulations. That is all. Bounty Hunter Rep +++

Flashpoint structuring Here is how you proceed through the mission narrative. 1. All 4 party members must TALK to the NPC to be briefed at the bridge.2. All 4 party members must now PRESS Elevator button to get to shuttle bay.3. All 4 party must now run to the shuttle and interact with the SHUTTLE BAY DOOR.4. CONGRATS - THE MISSION IS UNDERWAY.

It did not need that long. Nothing interesting happened in between the trip from Bridge to Shuttle Bay.For the sake of mission speed - just get them on board - in the unlikely event one player disconnected, you're not facing a time limit or instant aggro the moment you dock on the enemy's cruiser anyway.

I was never a fan of Pazaak. I somehow managed to lose every single one of the dozen or so games I tried in SWTOR

I can see how slots could be done with far lower reqs. They already have concepts for the machine from Hutt Space. They don't need to make a bunch of cards, and they don't need to program an AI to play against you - they just need an RNG generator.

Nothing in this post represents the views of my current or previous employers.

I spent a little while gambling. Apparently all you can win on the low end machine is more tokens? I finally won something else after about 30 pulls, and it was a token to the high end machine. Which promptly went poof when I used it.

Was hoping for something a little more engaging than a spinning arrow.

Don't use the token for the fancy machine unless you have the 'feeling lucky' message, its a buff that lasts for 2 min after you get it and it greatly increases your chances of keeping the token while it's up.

You can get the item buying currency from the lower machines as well but it's pretty rare. The 2 special mounts are only on the fancy machines.

I spent a little while gambling. Apparently all you can win on the low end machine is more tokens? I finally won something else after about 30 pulls, and it was a token to the high end machine. Which promptly went poof when I used it.

Was hoping for something a little more engaging than a spinning arrow.

I got a ticket ... thing from the baby slots, but yeah, it's mostly going to be tokens of some sort.

I'm up to 4 of those golden things so far. Won one of them on the smuggler machines with a jackpot. Won the other 3 on the kingpin machines with the feeling lucky buff.

I dropped 100k into this so far, which doesn't seem like much. I buy 50 at a time, play until I have 10 coins left, wait for the buff to hit, then play big money machines until i get something or lose.

The buff goes away when you win on the big machines, so keep that in mind.

JK/SW is the most buttony of the tanks, I find, but you can get away with cutting down that far without too much issue, I think. I rarely tank with my JK (tactical FPs don't count), though, she's basically just my Dailies Bitch.

There's a pretty solid chance I never do actual dungeons with this toon, but still. The only thing I would change about this experience is that there are way too many abilities doing essentially the same thing.

Post that setup please. I'm just reinstalling the game and I'd love to finish leveling my Sith Warrior. The last time I signed on I was traumatized by all the buttons and I couldn't remember what any of the abilities did.